


Last Kiss

by SnowLuthor



Category: Supergirl
Genre: Angst, Death, F/F, Fake Character Death, Kara Danvers Needs a Hug, Kara Danvers POV, Lena Luthor Knows Kara Danvers Is Supergirl, Love, POV Lena Luthor, SuperCorp, married supercorp
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-26
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:01:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22413649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnowLuthor/pseuds/SnowLuthor
Summary: “I never thought we’d have a last kiss.”--OrKara Danvers loses her wife, what happens next?
Relationships: Kara Danvers/ Lena Luthor
Comments: 18
Kudos: 217





	1. Kara

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t know what this is... I just hope you enjoy !

Kara stared out the window of her apartment watching the rain fall and splatter against the glass. The weather seemed fitting, considering what day it was. Kara jumped when she heard a knock at the door and somehow managed to move her leaden limbs to the door. When she turned the knob and found her sister looking at her with concern and pain, she only stared back. 

“Kara…” Alex trailed off, not quite knowing what to say.

“Don’t.” Kara snapped, staring her sister down further. Kara took in the outfit her sister was wearing and scoffed, “you have the audacity to come today, after what you did?”

Alex winced at her sister’s words but held her ground. “This isn’t about you, Kara, and she would have wanted me there.” 

“How do you know what she would have wanted!” Kara yelled, her eyes glowing dangerously. 

“She was my friend, my sister in law.” Alex said simply, seemingly unfazed by the Kryptonian’s outburst.

“She was my wife!” Kara screamed again, backing away from the doorway. “And this is all your fault!” Kara slammed the door in her older sister’s face and immediately heard a wailing from down the hall.

“Shit.” Kara mumbled under her breath, wiping her eyes of unshed tears. She made her way down the hall and into the little nursery, near her bedroom.

“Hey, bug.” Kara murmured, picking up her little girl. “Mommy’s got you.” 

The baby quieted almost immediately as she snuggled into Kara’s neck. Kara sat down in the cozy rocking chair that Lena had picked out and held the tiny baby close. 

“I miss her already.” Kara sniffed, rocking the chair back and forth in a soothing motion. “I know you do too, you haven’t been sleeping for mommy.” Kara sighed, getting lost in her thoughts. They had finally had everything they wanted, their lives were as perfect as it could get and then in a last ditch effort to make everything miserable again, the universe took Kara’s whole world from her, again.

That was the thing though, Kara had survived a whole planet blowing up, losing everything and everyone she held dear. She thought nothing could ever be worse than that pain, but here she was, sitting in a rocking chair, in the dark, with a baby Lena carried for nine months but would never get to see grow up. That thought alone left a hole in Kara’s heart bigger than anything that had left its mark before. How was she supposed to survive this? 

———-

3 years ago

Kara and Lena had been dating for five months and Kara was more enamored with her girlfriend than ever, but she knew something was bugging Lena. 

One evening after Lena came home from work, significantly later than normal, Kara could tell she was more on edge than she usually was. Her shoulders were tense and her heart was racing, Kara really didn’t want to pry, but seeing Lena like this broke her heart and she knew Lena would never simply come to her.

“Lena?” Kara called gently from the couch, knowing Lena could hear her from where she was laboriously looking over paperwork in the kitchen.

“Yea?” Lena called back, albeit with a little bit of a sharp undertone.

“Can you come here a minute?” 

Kara heard Lena sigh and grind her teeth before the soft scraping of the barstool on the tile floor. Lena’s footsteps were heavy and when she made it into the living room she gave Kara a pointed look.

“Yes?”

“Can you sit down a minute.” Kara pleaded softly, nothing but concern and love filling her blue eyes.

“I’m busy.” Lena bit back, a little harsher than she intended and she shied away from Kara slightly. “Sorry.” She mumbled, looking at the floor. 

“It’s okay babe, I just want to know what has you so rattled.” Kara said, patting the spot next to her on the couch. 

Lena, resigned, sat down on the couch beside her girlfriend and curled into her side.

Kara could feel Lena relax a little in her arms and held her close, waiting a few moments before she spoke. 

“So,” Kara started, “what’s on that gorgeous mind of yours?” 

Lena smiled slightly at that, Kara always made a point to not only comment on her physical features but her mind as well. Her family had always made her feel like she wasn’t good enough in any department and she was constantly insecure about everything, no matter how good the front that she put on was. Lena shook herself from her thoughts and took a deep breath, trying to put what she was feeling into words. 

“I just- I-“ Lena stuttered, getting frustrated with her inability to form words. 

“Lena,” Kara started as she soothingly began to stroke Lena’s hair. “Calm down, it’s okay.” 

Lena nodded and took another deep breath, focusing on the feeling of Kara’s hand running through her raven locks. “I’m having a hard time saying… it.” 

“It?” A confused Kara murmured.

Lena looked up at Kara’s ocean blue eyes and tried to convey wordlessly what she was so hopelessly trying to say. 

“Oh.” Kara started plainly, knowing exactly what Lena was referring to. 

A few weeks ago, right when Lena had started acting strange, Kara had professed her love. It was a slip up really, she got caught up in the moment. That day, Kara just felt so overwhelming in love with Lena. She told her as such while Lena was hunched over paperwork with that adorable look of determination on her face that Kara adored so much and watched as Lena jumped and spilled her coffee all over said paperwork. 

“I’m so sorry.” Lena whispered, defeat coloring her tone and breaking Kara out of remanissance. 

“No, absolutely not. You do not have to apologize for this, if you just aren’t feeling it then that’s okay, I shouldn’t have said it anyway.” Kara replied quickly.

“That’s just it, I  _ do  _ feel it, and I’ve been feeling it for a long time. I just- I’ve never said it to anyone romantically and you’re the only person I’ve even said it to in a friendly way. I’m not good with feelings, Kara, I never have been, and you, you’re so open and light. I’ve been trying so hard these past few weeks to tell you how I feel and then when you said it to me it made me even more frustrated.” Lena stood up and started pacing the floor, her volume growing louder and louder with each word. “But, but,” she spluttered. “I love you damn it!” She screamed looking into Kara’s eyes.

The look on Lena’s face Kara would remember forever, it was pure shock which soon turned into a mixture of joy and relief. Kara got up and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend who started sobbing in her arms. 

“I’m such a mess, how could you ever love someone like me?” She said in between sniffles. 

“Because you are my world, Lena Luthor. My life, my love, my everything and I am never letting you go, not ever.” 

______

Present

Kara put the baby down in her crib after a long day. She didn’t really know when the baby had fallen asleep, all she knew was that when she looked at the clock, it read 1:58 am and she choked on a sob remembering that Lena had documented the exact time she had told Kara she loved her. There it was on the digital clock in her daughter’s bedroom, taunting her, reminding her of a future she’d no longer have. 

When she walked up to the front door to make sure it was locked for the evening, Kara noticed a white envelope lying on the floor. She picked it up and immediately recognized Lena’s perfect, swirly handwriting. Kara figured Alex had managed to slip it past her during their brief encounter earlier that afternoon. 

She walked down the hallway to her’s and Lena’s bedroom and shedding off her stiff black clothing, slipped on some of Lena’s old sweatpants and Lena’s favorite sweatshirt, which she had stolen from Kara. They still smelled like Lena, a combination of expensive perfume and something uniquely, distinctively, Lena. Kara dreaded the day when the clothes stopped smelling like her wife, she knew things would start to disappear, small things like the sound of her voice, the way her hair felt when Kara ran her fingers through it, the way Lena’s lips tasted when they kissed. Kara didn’t want to forget, she didn’t want to move on, she didn’t even want to go on, but she knew she had to, for their daughter. So, she sat on the bedroom floor, tears streaming down her face as she drowned in memories of her wife. Her wife she would never get to see again.

______

The letter sat untouched on Kara’s nightstand for two weeks. Everyday she would spend minutes-or hours, she wasn’t sure-simply staring at the pristine envelope addressed to her. Kara just couldn’t bring herself to open it, she knew that once she did, it would really be over, she would have to accept that Lena was gone and she just wasn’t ready for that. 

But, one night, after she had gotten her daughter down to sleep she slipped down the side of the bed and reached up to grab the letter off of the night stand. Drawing in a deep breath, she carefully opened the envelope and began reading. 

_ Dear Kara,  _

_ If you are reading this then things did not go according to plan… _

_ ———— _

5 weeks ago

“Hey babe?” Kara called from the kitchen.

“Yea?” Lena called back from down the hall. 

“Do you know where all the burp cloths are?” Kara was fumbling through all the kitchen cabinets, though she could have easily used her x-ray vision, looking for the burp cloths that never seemed to be where they were supposed to be.

Lena appeared in the mouth of the hallway with their daughter sleeping on her shoulder. “They’re all in the wash, dear.” Lena chuckled. 

“Oh, yea.” Kara blushed slightly as she got up off the floor from where she was tossing things out of cabinets and turned her attention to her wife. “Lee, is everything okay?”

“Of course, darling. Why would you ask that?” Lena replied cheerfully. 

“You just seem a little more pale than you usually are, which is saying a lot. Are you feeling alright.?” Kara crossed over to where Lena was standing and felt her forehead, it felt normal, but something was off, she just knew it.

“Kara, I’m fine, really.” Lena looked at her pleadingly, almost as if there was something else she wanted to say, but couldn’t. “I just totally forgot I have a work thing tonight and I need you to watch the baby.”

“Lee, you just got home.” Kara whined.

“I know, I know, but it’s a really important meeting with some international investors. If I don’t go it could be a big loss for L-corp.” Lena wrapped her free arm around Kara and stared up at her with her big, green eyes that Kara loved so much. 

“Of course, just try and get home as soon as possible. I feel like we never get to see each other anymore. I miss you.” Kara kissed the top of her wife’s head as she gently took the sleeping baby from her arms.

“I miss you too. But, I promise, after this deal is closed, I’ll be home more. I’ll take some days off and we can go on a vacation, just be together, as a family.” Lena’s eyes started to shine a little with tears as she looked at Kara.

“Sounds perfect.” Kara smiled. “Are you sure you’re okay?” 

“Yea, fine, I just love you so much.” Lena kissed Kara quickly before hurrying down the hallway toward their room.

“I love you too.” Kara called after her, smiling to herself. Though, deep down she knew something was off, she always knew, just like all those years ago.

_____

Lena had been gone for hours. Kara was pacing the length of the living room, trying to get her screaming baby to take a bottle. For some reason Lena had spontaneously wanted to wean the baby off nursing and try to bottle feeding, unfortunately it wasn’t going well, at all. 

As time passed, Kara grew more worried and the baby’s screams grew louder. Lena said she’d be home, she promised, that was the only thing that kept Kara going. 

After what felt like an eternity, Kara heard a knock at the door and the baby started screaming once more. She sighed when she saw who it was and opened the door to face a distraught looking Alex. 

“Alex? Are you okay, what’s wrong?” Kara asked quickly, ushering her sister inside.

Alex stepped just inside the doorway and looked anywhere but Kara’s eyes. “I need you to come with me.” 

If Kara hadn’t had superhearing she would have never heard what Alex had said. She fixed her sister with a confused look and looked to the baby who was still screaming her head off. 

“Bring her.” Alex said a little louder than before.

Kara knew her sister was all business and followed her out the door and to her car. The drive was completely silent the whole way there, Kara didn’t dare ask questions and the baby had finally tired out and gone to sleep, partly due to the steady motion of the vehicle. 

“Why are we at the DEO?” Kara asked once they arrived at their destination. 

Alex took in a sucking breath and looked straight ahead as she spoke slowly, “The was an… incident tonight.” She began. “Lena…”

“No.” Kara cut Alex off balling her hands in fists.

“Kara…” Alex trailed off.

“No! No, she said she was coming home, it was just a business meeting!” Kara got out of the car, slammed the door, and raced towards the tall building. She used her superspeed to search every floor and when she finally reached the medbay, the area she had been avoiding, she saw Lena’s pale body gracing one of the beds. Kara choked on a sob as she entered the room, slowly making her way over to her wife. She placed her head over her heart and listened to the faint beating that indicated that she was just barely hanging onto life. 

“Lena?” Kara murmured, her head still against Lena’s chest. Kara heard her heartrate pick up slightly and lifted her head a little to look at Lena’s face. 

“Hey, love.” Lena croaked weakly. 

“Hey,” Kara whispered back, reaching up to touch her wife’s ghostly pale cheek.

“I’m sorry.” Lena said, giving Kara a sad smile.

“No, you don’t have to apologize, you’re going to be okay. Everything’s going to be fine.” A few tears escaped Kara’s eyes, which were still locked with Lena’s.

“Don’t cry. I don’t want your pretty blues to be filled with tears the last time I see them.” Lena coughed a few times and her face spasmed in pain.

Kara’s face quickly turned to one of panic and she moved to go get help, when she felt a cold hand wrap around her wrist. 

“Kara, please.” Lena whispered. “Just stay with me.” 

“But, but, I need to go get help. I need Alex.” Kara said frantically, whipping around to face Lena.

“Kara, I’m dying.” 

Everything went completely silent, except for the steady beeping of the machines. Kara dropped Lena’s hand and saw hurt flash over her wife’s face. 

“No, you’re not. I just, I just need to go get Alex and everything will be fine. I’m not going to lose you, I can’t do this without you Lee, I can’t, I won’t.” 

Lena patted the spot beside her on the bed. “Come here.” Kara slumped her shoulders and climbed up into bed beside Lena. She carefully wrapped her arms around her love’s frail body as Lena’s head rested on her chest. “I love you.” Lena murmured, her eyes fluttering closed.

Kara sucked in a wavering breath leaning down to kiss her wife before she completely lost conciousness, “I love you too, my love, forever and always.” 

_______

_ I’ve never been the one good with words or the sappy love letters, but I suppose I kind of owe you this one. Kara Danvers, there is no way I would ever be able to put into words how much you mean to me and how you changed my life. I would never be the person I am today without you and I wish the universe had given us more time. But, since it didn’t I can look back and be grateful for the time we did have.  _

_ Some of my favorite memories of you are so simple and seem so minuscule but mean the absolute world to me. Our first summer we were together, I went out of town quite a bit for business and you were waiting by the plane after every one. On one particular occasion, July ninth, it was raining and I thought surely there was no way you would be standing outside getting soaked through simply to see me. Although, when I looked out the window of the airplane, there you were, wearing that million dollar smile of yours, getting soaked to the bone. I still remember the feeling of my feet hitting the pavement and the feeling of home as you wrapped your arms around me, like after all that time I had found my place.  _

_ As you know, I hate parties and I hate surprises even more. Lucky me, you threw me a surprise birthday party and it was Halloween themed. I knew it was a little strange that day that you made me dressup as a witch, but as much as I complained, I would have done anything for you. I remember being so angry at you about something as dumb as a surprise party and you knew I was mad too. You would be talking to our friends and look over at me every once in a while and I would pretend not to notice. I guess part of me was a little jealous that you just could so easily come up with these huge gestures that made me feel like the most special girl in the world and I could never do the same for you.  _

_ That night, you completely took my breath away. Even dressed up as a mummy, you were the most beautiful woman in the galaxy. Your laugh is infectious and can light up even the dullest spirits, your beauty shines like no other, inside and out. Towards the end of the evening you pulled me out into the middle of the dance floor of the bar you had rented out. I tried to stay mad at you, I really did, but it’s impossible for me. You gave me that smile and I was mush on the inside and I knew in that moment I would give you the world if I could. You swirled me around on the dance floor, though you are much more adept at dancing than I, and we laughed until we could barely stand up any longer. That night, I fell asleep warm and safe in your arms and happier than I’d ever been.  _

_ Thank you for being the best part of my life. Thank you for kissing me when I’m in the middle of a sentence, there’s not a day that goes by that I won’t miss those interruptions. Thank you for being the best mommy to Maisie and I’m sorry that I won’t be there to watch her grow up with you. Thank you for the laughs and the hugs, the good times and the bad. Please don’t let this change you, I would never be able to forgive myself if you stopped smiling because of me.  _

_ Also, please don’t be mad at Alex, I asked her to keep you out of this. I needed to keep my family safe and that’s what I did. The Luthor’s wanted me, so that’s what I gave them. Lean on Alex, don’t pull away and seclude yourself, you and Maisie need family, something I couldn’t give you. I want you to move on and be happy. I’m so sorry our story had to end like this, I wanted to grow old with you and live happily ever after, but I don’t think I was ever supposed to have that. I will always be greatful for what I had with you and the short time I had with our little one. I know she will grow up to be just like you, strong and kind. Thank you for being my hero Kara Zor-El Danvers I love you with everything I have. _

__

_ -Lena _

Kara sobbed, clutching the letter to her chest until the sun came in through the blinds. When the tears had mostly subsided Kara picked up her phone and dialed her sister’s number.

“Kara?” Her sister’s sleepy voice came from across the line.

“A-Alex, I need you.” Kara said hoarsly. 

“Yea, of course, I’ll be right there.” Kara heard the line go dead and tipped her head back against the bed. She so badly wanted a drink and dreaded her superpowers in that moment. 

Kara sat there staring at the ceiling, until she got a text from Alex that she was there and didn’t want to wake the baby up. Kara reluctantly got up off the floor and moved her leaden limbs down the hall to the front door. As soon as she was face to face with her sister, she threw herself into Alex’s arms and broke down. Alex led them inside and to the couch in the living room. Kara held onto her sister for dear life and cried tears she didn’t even know she had left. 

Eventually, Kara’s tears once again subsided to quiet hiccups, she wiped at her eyes, and sat up a little straighter so she could face her sister.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Kara asked brokenly. There was no malice in her voice, just hurt, raw hurt that cut Alex to the core. 

“I couldn’t Kar. It was too dangerous.” Alex said, looking at the floor.

“I have freaking superpowers Alex.” Kara snapped. “I’m a big girl I can take care of myself.” 

“Kara, this is the Luthor’s we’re talking about. They have access to just about anything that could possibly injure you, or worse.”

“So what, it was just better that she-” Kara stopped suddenly and put her face in her hands.

“They wanted her, Kara, it was the only way to protect Maisie. We had a plan, and it was solid but they were ten steps ahead of us. I tried to save her Kara and I couldn’t, I’m so sorry.” Alex let out a shuddering breath and looked over at her sister who still had her face in her hands. 

Kara could hear the brokeness emanating from her sister’s words and reached out to hold her hand. “It wasn’t your fault.” She whispered. “Thank you for being there for her when I couldn’t.”

“She really loved you.” Alex met her sister’s eyes and watched as Kara nodded. “If you don’t mind me asking, what made you call me, I haven’t heard a word from you in two weeks.” 

“Um, Lena asked me not to blame you for what happened and to not seclude myself in the letter you threw in here without me noticing when I saw you last.” 

A confused look washed over Alex’s face. “What letter?” 

“The letter from Lena, it was right inside the door when I found it.” Kara replied, growing slightly impatient with her sister. 

“I seriously have no idea what you’re talking about.” 

Kara got up and rushed to her bedroom to grab the crumpled piece of paper and handed it to Alex in a matter of seconds. “This letter, Alex.” Kara thrust the envelope into her hands as well as Alex stared intently at the piece of paper in front of her. 

“This is stationary from the DEO.” Alex stated, never looking away from the tear-stained letter as if it held all the answers in the world.

“Yea, so?” Kara sighed wishing this day would end and she could just curl up in bed and hide from the rest of the world. 

“It means that this paper contains code with a secret message inside it. She designed it specifically for us. Kara, she’s trying to tell us something.” Alex ran into Lena’s office, Kara following closely behind as Alex scanned the code into Lena’s computer. The two women watched with bated breath as the computer processed the information. A few moments later, the screen read  _ 158 _ and Alex turned to Kara.

“158? Does that mean anything to you?” Alex asked the blonde, who was staring intently at the screen. 

“158.” Kara whispered under her breath. “1:58 am, that was the time when she first told me she loved me.” 

“Why would she send you that through code?” Alex asked quizically.

“I don’t know, Alex, maybe just as a way to tell me she loved me one last time?” Then it dawned on her. “Wait.”

“What?” Alex asked waiting for her sister to put all the pieces together. 

Kara walked out of the room without another word and made her way into their bedroom. She x-rayed the whole room and came upon an area of the wall that seemed to contain lead. Walking over to that spot she took a deep breath and put her hand on it. 

“DNA scan complete. Kara Danvers. Access granted.” An automated voice said, making Kara jump slightly. Alex had come up behind her and was watching these events unfold. The wall opened up, revealing a safe. Kara punched in their wedding date and heard the safe hiss and she pulled it open. She took out a book and opened it up, Lena had recorded a timeline of their relationship starting with when they met, to the night before she left. Kara flipped to the page when Lena told Kara she loved her for the first time and found a flashdrive.

“What the hell?” Kara whispered under her breath. 

“Kara, I don’t think Lena is dead.” Alex said, meeting her sister’s eyes when Kara turned around. 

“Then let’s go find her.” 

It was in that moment that Kara felt some of her light return. She was going to save her wife from the clutches of the Luthors. Their story was not over. It wasn’t going to end with them curled on top of a hospital bed clinging onto Lena’s last breathes. It wasn’t going to end with Kara having to raise their daughter alone. It was going to end with both of them being miserable for the rest of their lives. Kara was going to bring Lena home and she was going to grow old with her and they were going to get their happily ever after. 


	2. Lena

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena’s perspective on the events of the last chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You asked and I delivered! Chapter 2!

The last thing Lena remembers before losing consciousness was soft lips on hers and the feeling of home.  _ Kara _ . She knew that she wasn’t dying, she knew that her heart would stop and she would seem dead, and she knew that her wife would be devastated. Lena knew that  _ she  _ would be devastated, but she had to protect her family, no matter what.

———

Lena had never been able to escape the Luthors. They were no longer her family, they were her hell. She had spent her life trying to get out from under the family name, and running. She was so tired of running. 

Things started going downhill right after her daughter Maisie was born. She received an anonymous letter saying that “she wasn’t going to get away with what she did” and it didn’t take a genius to figure out who it was from, she knew her brother’s handwriting like the back of her hand. 

She knew she should have told Kara about the letter, but with a child in the mix things became a lot more serious. So, Lena called Alex. Lena was a hormonal mess the first time they met to talk about the letter. Being a new mom was hard enough, but being a new mom with a target on her back was nearly impossible to handle, but it was her reality. 

Alex and Lena went through nearly every possible option before deciding that Lena would need to confront Lex and simply ask what he wanted. Lena went to visit her mother at the Luthor mansion and asked her to set up a meeting. The look she got from her mother was almost pitying and it set Lena even more on edge. 

It took months for Lex to reach out to her, for which she was grateful because she got to spend precious time with her daughter and Kara. They got to be normal parents for a few months, learning that sleep was hard to come by but it was worth it every time their little girl basically did anything and Lena learned to embrace the mess that came with having children, but most of all, she learned to appreciate the little things. 

Lena had always been focused on the bigger picture and often went full steam ahead. The realization that her whole life could be ripped from her at any moment without warning, put things into perspective. She worked less, played and snuggled with Maisie as much as she could, cuddled with Kara, watched movies and played board games and did all the things she should have been putting first since the beginning. 

Lena was trying to be strong, she really was, but the lying and fear was taking its toll on her and the Danvers sisters could tell. Alex was always checking up on her. She called Lena every night and tried to come up with alternatives to their plan, every one of them being shot down by Lena, they were always too dangerous or Lex would be ten steps ahead. She felt stuck. She had to wait for Lex and wait for him to make his move, it was something she was used to, but this time it felt different.

One night, Lena was going through the mail when she found an envelope addressed to her in her brother’s scrawly handwriting. She swallowed hard as she went into her office and opened the envelope to find a flash drive. She sat down in her desk chair and plugged the flash drive into her computer where her brother’s face appeared.

“Lena,” Lex began. “I’m very disappointed in you. A spawn with an alien? Now you’ve taken it a step too far. I let it pass that you tied yourself to one, but procreating with it has tarnished the Luthor name. Now, I highly doubt that you will simply hand over the child, so I’ll make you a deal. Meet me in front of the Kryptonian’s statue at the docks, that you so proudly unveiled to the city, in three days. Don’t tell anyone about this, you know what will happen. I’m sure you’ll have some things to tie up. See you soon, sister.” The screen went dark. 

Lena stared at the screen, trying to digest all the emotions coursing through her. She knew this would happen eventually, but that didn’t make it any easier. She got up out of the chair and made her way to her bedroom. Luckily, Kara was on the other side of town putting out a fire or Lena would have broken down on the spot. Lena found the spot on the wall with the chipped paint and placed the flash drive in a secret safe. She put the flash drive in the pages of a notebook she had been working on for the past few months that documented moments in hers and Kara’s relationship. 

“1:58” she murmured under her breath, tracing the words on the page with her fingers. She shut the book and placed it back inside the safe with the vain hope that Kara would find it and maybe even find her one day, or at least know how much she cherished every moment with her. 

Just as she was making her way back into the kitchen, she heard boots land on the balcony. 

“Hey babe!” Kara called giddily pulling her wife into a hug. 

“Hey.” Lena said softly, returning the gesture. “I missed you.” 

Kara kissed the top of Lena’s head, “I missed you too, but I will always come back to you.” 

Lena shuddered at that because she knew, pretty soon, she would not be coming back to Kara. 

————

_ 3 days later _

“It’s going to be okay, Lena. Brainy has the whole thing mapped out. I’m going to send my agents in to surround the perimeter and you, J’onn, Nia, Brainy and I will be the prime attackers.” Alex said as they walked to the black DEO van.

“It’s a suicide mission, Alex.” Lena sighed. “I just said goodbye to Kara, she’s going to need you and if you d-“ 

“I’m not.” Alex interrupted. “Nobody’s going to die and you’re going to go home tonight. You’re going home to my sister and niece.” 

Lena stayed silent as she climbed into the van that contained the rest of the superfriends, minus Kara, and they made their way to the docks. When they arrived, Lena stepped out of the van to find her brother standing directly underneath the statue in his grey striped suit, wearing his signature smirk. 

“Lena, long time no see.” He quipped, walking toward her. 

“Not long enough.” She answered back, keeping her face even, though her heart was pounding in her chest. She knew they were going to lose this, just by the look in his cold, dark eyes. 

“Oh come now, Lena. You know you missed me.” Lex was now face to face with his sister, staring daggers into her green eyes, but she didn’t waver.

“What do you want, Lex?” 

“Getting right to it are we? Not too keen on catching up with your big brother?” Lex pouted slightly, that playful glimmer never leaving his eyes, as if this was all a game, which it was. “I want you to come with me.”

“Why?” Lena replied shortly.

“Now, now, we both know you’re not in a position to ask questions. How is your little spawn, Maisie, doing?” 

A shiver ran down Lena’s spine.  _ He knows her name _ . There was no way to tell what else he knew about her family and the people she loved. “Don’t you dare say her name.” Lena ground out eventually.

“Mmm.” Lex murmured. “Chop chop boys.” He shouted.

Two men came up from behind Lena and grabbed her by the arms and all hell broke loose. The superfriends came bursting out of the van and one by one they went down as Lex simply pressed a button on his Lexosuit that had somehow materialized on his body while Lena wasn’t looking. 

“Lex, stop! Please!” Lena yelled. “I’m not going to fight you, just don’t hurt them!” 

Lex walked up to Lena and grabbed her chin roughly. “You broke the rules, there needs to be punishment for that.”

“Then punish me.” Lena begged. “Please, just let them go.” 

“Lena Luthor, begging, I never thought I’d see the day.” Lex smirked, looking down at his little sister. “You’ve become weak.” 

Lena could see Alex out of the corner of her eye getting ready to do something she would regret and looked in her direction. “Alex, don’t.”

“Lena, I’m not going to let him take you.” Alex said, pointing her gun at Lex. 

“Yes, you will.” Lena turned her attention back to her brother. “Let’s go.” 

Lex sauntered over to Lena and grabbed her arm. Leaning into her ear, he whispered, “Oh we will, but first we have to make your disappearance believable.” 

Knowing exactly what her brother was getting at, she stiffly nodded her head, expecting the blow to the back of her legs that made her knees buckle. 

“Lena!” She heard Alex scream. 

“It’s okay, just tell Kara I love her.” She stared up into her brother’s gleaming eyes, filled with excitement, as he plunged a sharp blade into her abdomen. 

“See you soon sis.” He sneered yanking the blade back out as Lena crumpled to the ground. 

The last thing she remembered was Alex’s worried voice telling her everything was going to be alright before the world went black. 

———

Lena woke to an incessant beeping and the smell of chemicals. Her eyes fluttered open and they were met with the harsh lighting of the DEO medbay. 

“Oh, you’re awake.” A voice said from beside her.

“Brainy?” Lena mumbled. 

“Your evil brother contacted me covertly.” Brainy stated. “He said you would comply.” 

“Yea.” Lena sighed, a pounding headache taking over her rattled mind.

“You know, Lena, you don’t have to. We can find another way, we can protect you.” Brainy met her eyes. They were surprisingly sad and pleading, but Lena shook her head. 

“There’s no escaping him, Brainy. If there was, I would be fighting like hell to stay with my family, but I can’t risk it. He threatened Maisie.” Lena watched as Brainy’s eyes went wide at her last sentence, but then quickly became schooled once more.

“I understand. I was instructed to inject you with this,” Brainy held up a vial that contained a clear liquid. “I analyzed it and it should stop your heart long enough to make your death believable and I will handle the rest.” 

Lena nodded, “Thank you, Brainy.” 

“Don’t thank me. This is the last thing I wish to be doing.” He stated, directing his eyes toward the floor.

“I know, me too.” 

Lena watched as Brainy put the contents of the vial into a needle. He steralized a spot on her arm and gave Lena another look that silently pleaded her not to make him do this.

“It’s okay, Brainy.” Was all she said. 

“Inserting the needle.” The needle pricked Lena’s skin and she felt a slight burning sensation as it ran through her veins. 

“It will take a little while to kick in.” Brainy told her. As he started to walk away, he turned over his shoulder. “Kara should be here in a little while, be safe.”

“What? Brainy!” Lena called after him, but he was already gone. 

Moments passed in silent anticipation as Lena waited for Kara to get there. She was growing more and more tired by the second and part of her thought it would be easier to just succumb to the drug’s effects, but the other part of her desparately wanted to see Kara one last time and that side easily won out. But, as time passed her eyelids grew heavier and heavier until she couldn’t keep them open anymore and she began to give up hope that she would get to say goodbye to her wife until she heard a panicked voice.

“Lena?” Lena’s stomach jumped at the sound of Kara’s voice and she soon felt a slight pressure on her chest. 

“Hey, love.” Lena murmured, meeting her wife’s gorgeous blue eyes that took her breath away every time she looked into them. 

“Hey.” Kara replied as her hand reached up to caress Lena’s cheek. Lena leaned into the touch and relished in being in the presence of Kara, her Kara. 

“I’m sorry.” Lena said, drinking in her wife’s beauty as Kara’s face fell. 

“No, you don’t have to apologize, you’re going to be okay. Everything’s going to be fine.” Lena’s heart broke at the slightly frantic tone and the few tears that managed to escape Kara’s eyes. 

“Don’t cry. I don’t want your pretty blues to be filled with tears that last time I see them.” Lena so desparately wanted to reach out and wipe the tear’s from the blonde beauty’s face, but her limbs felt like lead and she knew the effects of the drug were coming upon her quickly.

She watched as Kara whipped around to leave and Lena quickly grabbed her wrist. “Kara, please. Just stay with me.” 

“But, but, I need to go get help. I need Alex.” Kara said frantically, whipping around to face Lena, Lena still holding on as tight as she could.

She realized that Kara was never going to accept what was happening until she said it out loud, so she took a deep breath and looked Kara in the eyes. “Kara, I’m dying.” Lena could feel the tense silence that blanketed the room and Kara wrenched her wrist from Lena’s weak grasp and she watched as a look of guilt flash across Kara’s face. 

“No, you’re not. I just, I just need to go get Alex and everything will be fine. I’m not going to lose you, I can’t do this without you Lee, I can’t, I won’t.” 

It was in that moment that Lena almost,  _ almost  _ told Kara everything. She wanted to find another way so badly so she could stay with her family and be happy.  _ Her family.  _ That’s why she was doing this, that’s why she couldn’t tell Kara, because Kara would tell her there is always another way and would make her believe it. Then, when something happened to her or Maisie, Lena would never forgive herself and her brother would have won anyway, like he always does. So, she patted the spot beside her on the bed, “come here.” Lena watched as Kara completely deflated in front of her eyes and admitted defeat. It wasn’t something she often did and it shocked Lena more than she expected it would. Kara climbed up onto the bed and wrapped her strong arms around Lena and the brunette rested her head on her chest. “I love you.” Lena whispered, holding onto every moment she had left with her wife as she felt the darkness closing in. 

“I love you too, my love, forever and always.”

Lena wanted to say something back, to kiss her back, but she was already too far gone and the same thought kept repeating itself as her mind tumbled into the black abyss.  _ That was the last time I’m ever going to kiss her.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wanted to do one from Lena’s perspective the next one will be both Kara and Lena ;)


	3. Invisible

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena gets to see her family... but that only makes it harder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I know it’s been awhile since I updated this story but it’s one of my favorites. The chapters just take me a while to write because they’re long and I want them to be right. 
> 
> Anyways, I understand that that timing might be a little confusing so I’m going to help out a little. This story takes place in the span of three weeks with some flashbacks thrown in there of course ;) the first chapter takes place over the span of those three weeks with Kara and the second and third chapters are Lena’s part of it. The next chapter should be from both of their prospective, but we’ll see.... 
> 
> Sorry this story is kind of a mess I only planned on it being on chapter, but people wanted more 😂 I hope you enjoy!

Lena opened her eyes to find herself in her childhood bedroom. What the hell? She hated this room, hated the memories that haunted her every time she stepped foot in it. The light was weakly coming in through the large bay window, indicating that it was early morning. Lena attempted to roll out of bed, but quickly got a sharp reminder of her brother’s blade in her abdomen as a paralyzing pain spread throughout her whole body. 

“Oh good, you’re awake.” Lex’s voice came from the doorway.

“You bastard.” Lena spat, trying not to flinch at the throbbing that was coming from the area around her stomach. 

“Now, now, Lena there’s no need for such harsh language.” He slowly sauntered over to her bedside and sat down on the edge of the mattress beside his little sister. 

She only glared at him as two intense pairs of green eyes stared into another. He roughly placed a hand on her abdomen, right over her stab wound, and she cried out in pain. 

“You will show some respect!” Lex all but yelled, soon regaining his nonchalant composure. “Our family has given you more than enough chances to prove your loyalty and you have disregarded all of them. Your behavior has disgraced the family name and there are consequences for your behavior.” Lex stood up and smoothed out his crisp suit before bending down to kiss Lena on the forehead, who was still trying to breathe through the intense waves of pain flowing through every part of her body. “Get some rest little sis, because there is more where that came from. And maybe, you will change your position on where you stand within this family.” He stared at her one last time as if saying you have no idea what I have in store for you before walking out of the room and shutting the door. 

Lena was left alone in the quiet of the haunting atmosphere. Her room was just as she had left it. The desk was still in the corner where she had spent most of her time, whether it was doing homework, working on an invention, or on a very rare occasion, daydreaming about the day when she would be able to escape the Luthor’s clutches. How naive she was to think that the Luthors would just release her from her prison after she reached adulthood. She always prided herself on being practical and on her genius-level intellect but that was the only fairytale she chose to believe in. It was what led to her taking over L-corp, which forced her to move to National City, where she met the love of her life and for a while, she was able to be truly happy. And, with that being her last thought, she drifted off into an uneasy sleep, dreams of her wife and daughter filling her mind. 

______

A few hours later, Lena startled herself awake and quickly sat up from where she was lying down. While she was trying to get her breathing to slow and the fog in her mind to clear, she felt a warm hand on her shoulder.

“Hey, babe. What’s wrong?” A melodic voice soothed, the hand now moving up and down her back.

“Kara?” Lena breathed. “I don’t understand.”

“I’m right here Lee, it was just a bad dream,” Kara said softly, giving her wife a small smile. 

“No, no I was with Lex. Something’s not right.” Lena pushed the bed covers back and moved to sit on the edge of the bed. She placed a hand on her abdomen and found no stab wound there from the night before and jumped when she felt strong arms wrap around her. 

“Lee, what’s got you so jumpy?” Kara murmured, trailing kisses down Lena’s neck. 

“Uh, nothing. I just, um... I just need to go get some water.” Lena tried to escape Kara’s arms but to no avail. “Kara, let me go please,” Lena begged. 

Kara bit down on Lena’s collarbone and Lena gasped, now struggling harder than ever to escape the muscley prison. “Let me go!” Lena screamed.

“Never,” Kara muttered darkly.

This is not right. Lena thought to herself as her body grew tired from the useless fighting. This is not right.

____

“You’re resilient, I’ll give you that.” Lex’s voice rang in Lena’s ears as she slowly opened her eyes. She coughed as she felt the stinging pain in her abdomen once more which had dulled slightly, for which she was grateful. 

“How long have I been out?” She gasped, staring at the ceiling. Lena couldn’t bear to look at her brother, she hated feeling weak at all, let alone in front of him. The ravenette still held on to some of that Luthor pride that was instilled in her and Lex at such a young age, which gave Lex the knowledge of just which buttons to push. 

“About a week,” Lex stated simply, staring at the tablet he was holding in his hands. 

Lena’s jaw clenched as she remembered where she had just come from. It felt like so much longer than a week. The virtual reality made Kara, her Kara, into a twisted monster. “Why did you wake me? A week of torture seems like childsplay for you.” Lena managed to grind out. 

“Dear sister, do not think of it as torture. Think of it as… well, discipline.” Lex finally looked up from his tablet and smirked, his eyes twinkling with excitement. “Anyways, I woke you up because I have something special planned.” Lena arched an eyebrow urging him to continue, but of course, in true Lex Luthor fashion, he didn’t. She watched carefully as he moved to exit the room and stopped just inside the doorway, barely turning his head in her direction he spoke, “just… wear something black.” 

_____

Lena slowly dragged herself out of bed and got dressed in the tight black dress and overcoat that Lex had left out for her. It took all her energy to simply do that as pain radiated through her abdomen and moved to every other part of her body. She carefully sat down in front of her vanity and meticulously did her hair and makeup.

She wasn’t an idiot, she knew exactly where they were going, her funeral. Her stomach churned uneasily beneath the pain as she thought about seeing everyone in black, mourning her “death”, and burying an empty coffin. 

A knock on the door shook her out of her thoughts and didn’t even bother to look to see who it was.

“How nice of you to knock, brother.” She said sharply. 

“It’s polite, dear.” A cold voice rang through the air.

“Mother.” A shiver ran down Lena’s spine. She suddenly felt suffocated, like no matter how much air she brought into her lungs, it would never be enough. 

“We best be going or we’re going to be late.” There was something different about her mother’s voice. Though still cold and detached, it seemed… almost… caring. No, she must be imagining it. Her mother would never care about her like she did Lex and she had resigned herself to that a long time ago.

Lena slowly got up from the chair she was sitting in and winced as she clung to the edge of the table. Immediately, Lillian was at her side and it took everything in Lena’s power not to flinch at her touch. She looked up at her mother, trying to decipher what was running through her mind as she helped Lena out the bedroom door and down two flights of stairs, where Lex was waiting for them.

“Alexander, are you sure this is a good idea?” Lillian asked as Lena straightened up and focused on putting all her emotions in tiny boxes where no one could reach them. 

“When have I ever not been sure, mother?” Lex snapped back, giving Lillian a cold look that dared her to test him. 

“Never, dear,” Lillian replied through gritted teeth in something that was supposed to resemble a smile. 

The three of them walked out the doors of the mansion and into the waiting car. Lillian glanced at Lena over and over again as if trying to make sure she was alright. No, she’s probably just trying to make sure I don’t throw myself out of this car. She thought to herself. Something was different about her mother, she just didn’t want to be let down if she wasn’t different in the way that Lena had hoped for all her life. 

The steady pace of the car allowed Lena to get lost in her thoughts. Everything in the virtual reality that Lex had inflicted on her came flooding back. Tiny boxes, tiny boxes, but it was no use, everything was already there at the forefront of her mind, begging for attention. Lena started shaking and her skin turned a deathly white. She silently rooted around for her mother’s hand-why, she did not know-without looking away from the window. When she found it, she squeezed, hard, and turned to meet her mother’s face. 

Lillian’s eyes went wide when she saw the panicked look in her daughter’s eyes. “Stop the car.” She ordered the driver. 

“What, why?” Lex snapped.   
The car came to a stop and Lena immediately got out and threw up in the grass on the side of the road. Lillian followed closely behind and rubbed her back as Lena emptied what little content she had in her stomach. 

When Lena finally righted herself, her face screwing up at the sting in her stomach, she felt her mother’s hands on her shoulders. 

“You have to stay strong Lena.” Lillian pleaded. “You can’t let him win.” 

“What?” Lena said in a small voice, assuming she was imagining what she just heard. 

“Come on, we don’t want to make him angry.” Lillian stalked back to the car, leaving a bewildered Lena to follow behind her. 

The two settled themselves into the car once more and they continued their route to the cemetery, Lex wearing his signature smirk the whole way there. He thinks he’s already won. 

Pulling up to the cemetery, Lex put a piece of tech in Lena’s hand. “Here, put this on.” 

Lena looked down to see what it was and realized it was an image inducer. She sighed as she placed the microchip on her neck and watched her face transform into one she didn’t recognize. Her hair was blonde, eyes were a deep blue, but her face still had some of her distinctly sharp lines. 

“You will not talk to anyone. As far as anyone knows, you are my newest arm candy and I’m here to grieve my poor little sister.” Lena simply nodded knowing it was in her best interest not to argue. 

The Luthor’s got out of the car and Lena slipped her dark sunglasses on, letting out a shuddering sigh as she saw all the people who had gathered to mourn her. Lex rounded the car and slipped his arm through hers, giving it a tight squeeze that said, try anything and I’ll end you and everyone here. Lena swallowed hard and allowed Lex to guide her over to where people were talking quietly. Lena saw Alex, Brainy, Nia, J’onn, Kelly, James, Cat, and even Morgan Edge had made an appearance, probably to gloat, she thought, even though they had been on better terms lately. 

Alex saw the trio first and briskly walked over to them. “What are you doing here?” She sneered.

“We’ve come to pay respects to my dear sister,” Lex said somberly, although Lena knew Alex could see the slight grin playing on her brother’s lips. 

Alex’s jaw tightened, “you killed her you son of a bitch! And you think you can just show up here, in front of everyone who loved her and to what, gloat?” She said lowly. 

“Agent Danvers, what would ever lead you to believe I killed my own sister? How could you put these baseless accusations on a grieving man?” 

At this Alex furiously rolled her eyes and turned her attention to Lena. “Who are you?” She all but growled. 

“She’s my latest fling, it brings me comfort to have her by my side during these trying times,” Lex replied, squeezing Lena’s arm a little bit tighter. 

“I wasn’t asking you,” Alex said through gritted teeth, staring straight into Lena’s eyes through her sunglasses. “Take off your glasses.”

“Excuse me?” Lex spat. 

“Take off your glasses, please.” Alex bit back.

Lena was conflicted. She didn’t want to upset her brother for fear that he might hurt the people she loved but she also knew Alex wouldn’t recognize her even without the glasses. “It’s okay, dear.” She whispered to Lex, trying to change her voice as much as possible. Willing her hand not shake, she reached up and pulled the dark frames off of her face. 

Lena watched as Alex’s face fell and she so badly wanted to scream and yell, it’s me, Alex, it’s Lena! But she knew she couldn’t, she was trapped, always had been, but the one thing she could do was keep her family safe. 

“I’m sorry,” Alex mumbled, “I thought you were someone else.” 

I am, Lena thought as she watched Alex walk away, don’t leave. She was yanked out of her longings when Lex started moving toward the chairs, lined neatly in rows, on the green. The weather was absolutely horrendous. The sky was dark and gloomy, fitting. It had been raining all morning and the ground was soft. Luckily, she was wearing boots and not her usual high heels or that would surely be an ordeal. When they were finally seated, Lex leaned in to whisper in her ear.

“That was a very close call. Congratulations on the quick thinking, you may have saved your sister-in-law’s life.”

His breath was hot on her ear and she struggled not to flinch, clenching her jaw so hard she was sure one of her teeth would break apart from the force. 

“Excuse me, if everybody would take a seat, we’re about to begin.” J’onn’s even voice cut through the somber air. 

Lena studied the crowd as they all took their seats. She saw Mon-el and Eliza, she even saw many of her employees and some people she didn’t even recognize, but there was one person who was noticeably absent, Kara. Lena didn’t blame her for not being there, she really didn’t. Selfishly, she just wanted to see her. 

The funeral passed by slowly. Lena was tired, mentally and physically, and all the words blurred together as if they had no meaning at all. She was sure J’onn did a wonderful job, but it took all the energy she had left just to simply sit up and look the part. 

When the service was over, Lex left Lena with Lillian as he made his way over to Morgan Edge and some other business associates. Lena knew something was going on, but Lillian grabbed her arm and pulled her up before she could think on it too much.

“Come on, we don’t have much time.” Lillian whispered, looking over her shoulder.

“What- mother.” Lena stuttered. 

“Just come with me.” Lillian led them towards the car and hopped in the front seat gesturing for Lena to come around to the passenger’s side. 

When she was seated in the car and they were on the road Lena turned to look at her mother. “Mother, what is going on?” 

Lillian clenched her jaw and kept her eyes on the road, “I’m sorry, Lena.” Was all she said.

Lena was stunned. She had never heard her mother apologize to anyone, let alone her. “I-I don’t understand.” Lena murmured, her hands clenching into fists.

“I’ve been a horrible mother to you. I let Lex become this-this monster and now it’s gone too far.” 

Lena didn’t know what to say. She dreamed of this moment for so many years, but why now? “Why now?” Lena uttered out loud.

“I know it took me too long to see it, but I didn’t want to accept that Lex had become like… him.” Lillian murmured, giving Lena a quick glance.

“Him?” Lena asked dumbly.

“Your father.” Lillian replied coldly. 

Lena flinched at the mention of Lionel. She knew Lionel wasn’t a good man, but he was nothing like Lex, right? “Father? H-He never-” 

“Tortured anyone? Planned for world domination? Killed anyone? Oh, Lena he just wasn’t so overt about it.” 

They pulled up in front of Lena’s apartment and Lillian turned to look at her. “I heard that I have a granddaughter.” Lena took in a sharp breath but watched as Lillian’s hard face dissolved into a soft smile. “I’m sorry he took you away from her.” 

Lena swallowed hard and attempted to smile back at her mother, but it appeared as more of a grimace. “She hasn’t been alive very long but I already love her more than anything in the whole world.” Her eyes flicked up to her mother whose face was laced with guilt. “I didn’t mean-”

“Yes, you did and that’s okay. Just, go see her.” Lillian reached out her hand and seemed to think better of it before handing Lena her key and ushering her out of the car. 

Lena walked into the lobby of the complex and waved at the doorman who smiled at her. She hopped onto the elevator and wrung her hands nervously as it slowly climbed to the top floor. When the doors parted, she almost turned around, but the thought of seeing her little girl again propelled her through those doors and into her dark apartment. For a moment she thought nobody was there, that she had made a mistake by coming, but as she drew closer to Maisie’s room she heard a soft whimpering from inside. Slowly turning the knob, her breath caught when she saw her daughter. It had only been a week, but it felt like an eternity. Lena walked up to the edge of the crib and carefully lifted Maisie up. 

“Hey pretty girl,” She whispered. “I’ve missed you.” Maisie snuggled her head into Lena’s shoulder and gripped Lena’s coat with as much strength as the tiny half Kryptonian could. “I’m so sorry I had to leave, but your mommy is the best mommy in the whole world, that’s how I know you’ll be alright. I will always love you, even if it’s from afar, little one.” Lena kissed the top of her daughter’s tiny head, full of dark, black hair and held on a second longer before putting the sleeping baby back in her crib. 

Lena quickly left the room, quietly shutting the door behind her and making her way down the hall. She paused outside her bedroom door, hoping against all hopes that Kara was asleep. When she finally got the courage to crack the door open and peek inside she saw her wife, eyes puffy and cheeks stained with tears clutching onto Lena’s pillow for dear life. The sight broke Lena and she dared to walk over to where Kara was sleeping and placed a soft kiss on her wife’s head.

“I love you, I will always love you.” She murmured and saw a small smile grace Kara’s drawn features. 

Lena walked out of the room and started to make her way to the front door, but she realized she owed Kara a hell of a lot more than just a kiss on the head and an ‘I love you’ that she wouldn’t even remember. So, she sat down in her office and pulled out a piece of paper and began writing.

Dear Kara, 

If you are reading this then things did not go according to plan…

When Lena was finished she willed her shaking hands to put the letter into an envelope and write Kara’s name on the back. She flinched when she heard the baby’s piercing shriek cut through the quiet air and quickly raced out the front door, dropping the letter behind her. Calming her heart rate, she went down the elevator and briskly walked out the doors of the apartment complex, before returning to the car where her mother was waiting. 

Lillian looked over at her daughter and saw the hurt emanating from her eyes. “Lena…”

“Just go, please.” Lena begged as the first tear fell without her permission. 

The two drove back to the Luthor mansion in silence, where they were met with a stone faced and angry Lex. Lena walked up the steps right past her brother and back up to her room without another word. 

“Nicely done, mother,” Lex sneered. “How did you manage that?”

Lillian looked up at her son, an unreadable expression on her face. “I simply reminded her why she was doing this.”

“Hm.” Lex grumbled as Lillian attempted to move inside. Before she did, Lex gripped her shoulder. “Don’t ever do something without my permission again.”

Lillian nodded stiffly, not even bothering to look at Lex before she made her own way upstairs. She stood outside Lena’s room for a moment, listening to the muffled sobs coming through the door and disappeared to her study, where she stayed for the rest of the night. 

The next two weeks passed by in a blur. Lena spent her time in and out of the VR world Lex had created for her and she could feel her resolve weakening with each passing day. She missed Kara and her daughter desperately, the real ones, not the ones Lex cooked up for her and she wished more than anything that her family wasn’t so horrible. 

The only thing that kept her going was the hope that maybe, just maybe, Kara had put the pieces together that she had left behind and would come find her. Lena had never been one to deal in fantasies, they had always let her down in the past, but she believed in Kara and in their future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think in the comments, I love love reading them 😍


	4. Crumbling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara does everything she can to get her wife back while Lena struggles against her brother’s iron grip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How about that finale, huh? I’m not sure how I feel about, wish we could have seen what happened in the last episode 🤷♀️ Hope everyone is doing okay during this crazy pandemic...  
> -  
> -  
> -  
> I know I haven’t updated this one in a while but I really like it :) TW: some abuse and violence

Kara threw an empty coffee cup at the wall of her and Lena’s apartment and sighed, running a hand through her hair.

“We’re getting nowhere!” Kara ground out. 

“We will Kara,” Alex said calmly, knowing best not to provoke her sister. 

“We have been working on this all night, Alex! I know she’s at that stupid mansion. Why can’t I just go get her?” Kara began pacing the floor, rubbing her hands together in a way that usually meant she was about to have a panic attack.

“Kara,” Alex said, her eyes softening as she made her way over to her sister. “Calm down. We’re going to bring her home.” 

Kara relaxed slightly as her sister brought her into a hug. All the tears she had been holding in for the past week came pouring out. “It’s been three weeks.” Kara sobbed. “She’s been alive this whole time and I didn’t know.”

Alex didn’t want to tell her sister there was still a possibility that Lena wasn’t alive and only gave her wife the flash drive to give her even the slightest piece of mind. She stood there holding her little sister in her arms and prayed to God that Lena was alive, and not only breathing but that Lex hadn’t damaged her beyond repair, that she knew of. “It’s not your fault, Kar,” Alex whispered a few moments later. “Nobody knew.” 

“Yea,” Kara answered dejectedly wiping the tears from her eyes and pulling out of the brunette’s embrace. “I need to go check on Maisie.”

Alex watched as Kara slowly walked down the hall to her niece's room and saw only the frightened thirteen-year-old girl that had come into her life all those years ago. At that moment, the only thing she wanted in the whole world was to see her sister smile again, but she knew it would never be the same if Lena didn’t come home and that thought terrified her to her very core. But, she thought to herself, would it ever be the same if did come home? Alex shuddered and turned back to the whiteboard to continue putting the pieces of Lex’s very complex puzzle together and hoped they wouldn’t be too late. 

“Alex!” Kara screamed.

Alex ran to where her sister was standing in the doorway of the nursery.

“She’s gone,” the blonde sobbed, “Maisie’s gone.” 

_______

Lena was on the floor of the Luthor’s underground fighting ring, blood flying from her mouth as she coughed. Lex was towering over her, her weak body being no match for his. The wound on her side was still recovering and she was surely malnourished and dehydrated, but she wouldn’t give in, she would never give in. 

“I’m not doing it,” She ground out, as he kicked her in the side again. She groaned and curled into herself, trying to breathe through the pain radiating through her entire body. 

Just as Lex was lifting his leg to kick her again, a voice ran through the wide space.

“Alexander stop,” Lillian called, “you’re going to kill her.”

“She won’t do as I say!” Lex yelled as he dealt a hard blow to Lena’s head.

The blow made her see black spots and she struggled to remain conscious as they danced across her vision and threatened to pull her under. 

“Alexander!” Lillian said once more, with a little panic in her voice, “She’s here.” 

Lex gave her a shit-eating grin and signaled for two men to come and lift Lena off the floor.

“I’m sorry it had to be this way, little sister, but you left me no other choice.” Lex walked over and roughly cupped her chin with his large hand, “Just remember, you brought this on yourself.”

When he let go, Lena’s head dropped forward as she was unable to keep it up any longer and she took in a sharp inhale of breath as the two men started moving and every inch of her body protested. 

She was brought into one of the labs near the arena-- because the Luthors had everything underground of course--and set down in front of the same desk, Lex had been trying to get her to work at for weeks. 

An angry glowing green rock was in front of her, same as always, but this time, instead of just being pulled out of a VR simulation, she struggled to hold her head up and not keel over from the pain pulsing through every inch of her frail body. 

Lex’s hands slammed down on the metal table and she slowly lifted her head up, barely suppressing a wince as the harsh fluorescent lights bored into her sensitive eyes.

“Get to work,” He demanded.

Lena just stared at him, not speaking, like every other time they went through this, knowing not speaking at all would infuriate him more than anything. But this time, instead of getting angry, he gave her another wicked grin and called Lillian in. When Lena saw what--rather, who--Lillian had in her arms, Lena knew she had lost the fight. 

Her eyes filled with tears as she picked up the glowing rock and pages filled with notes to begin developing an upgraded version of the Lexosuit, that would surely be used to kill her wife and could one day be used to hurt her daughter.

“Good girl,” Lex praised, basking in his victory, “I knew you would come around.” 

“Just let her go, please,” Lena pleaded softly.

“Oh, Lena, do you think I would simply return a being such as this? She is half Kryptonian, half Luthor. The Kryptonian part can be ignored and nurtured, but she deserves to be raised a Luthor,” The eldest Luthor replied, looking towards the little girl, “You failed, Lena, you could have raised her to be something great alongside us, but now you’re just going to have watch from the sidelines.” 

Lena’s heart shattered. Her daughter, her little girl was going to have to suffer through being raised by the Luthor’s just like she had and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She should have never become a mother, never should have thought that her family would simply just leave them be and now, Maisie was the one paying for her mistake. She watched as Lillian took her out of the room, followed by Lex and that was when the first tear fell.

______

“Kara, calm down, we’re going to find her,” Alex said urgently, watching Kara pace up and down the living room floor.

“I’m going to kill that son of a bitch!” Kara made for the balcony but was stopped by Alex.

“Kara, please stop, you’re just going to get yourself killed!” Alex yelled, “Then how are you supposed to help them?” 

Kara let out a shuddering breath, her fists clenched so hard her knuckles were turning white. 

“I know,” She whispered, “I can’t save them, Alex.” 

“Kara, we are going to save them, we just need to regroup and call the team.”

“Regroup and call the team,” Kara repeated, clenching and unclenching her fists a few times before grabbing Alex and flying out the window. 

———  
It had been hours since Lex had used her daughter to threaten her into submission and she was still tinkering with the green rock in front her, the blunt force to her head making it unusually hard to focus. She watched as the men who had been guarding her listened to a message on their earpieces and exited the lab. 

Lena stared after them, confused, but then saw her mother round the corner with medical supplies hand. The older woman tentatively made her way towards Lena and the brunette gave her a small smile but winced as it pulled at her sore features.

“Oh, Lena,” Lillian murmured, reaching up and inspecting a bruise on her cheek. 

Tears formed in Lena’s eyes as she leaned slightly into her mother’s touch. 

Lillian got to work immediately as she watched Lena’s eyes droop, “I need you to stay awake for me Lena, can you do that?”

Lena gave a small nod as she forced her green eyes open, which were ringed with purple. 

Lillian stitched up the cuts on her face and arms, put ointment on the bruises, wrapped up her surely broken ribs and sprained ankle, set her broken fingers, and finally made it to the back of her head which caused Lena to hiss in pain. 

Lillian walked around to get a better look and cursed, “Dammit, Lex.”

“Mom?” Lena whispered.

“What is it, darling?” Lillian murmured back.

“I’m scared.”

Lillian took in a sharp intake of breath and walked back around to pull her daughter into a hug. Lena weakly wrapped her arms around her mother and she whimpered softly into her chest as the older woman gently rubbed her back. 

“I know, Lena, I know, it’s okay to be scared,” Lillian soothed.

The soft whimpering stopped suddenly and Lillian quickly moved a hand up to feel for a pulse, but there was nothing there.

“No, no Lena, not right now, not like this.” Lillian cleared off Lena’s worktable and carefully transferred her youngest onto the cold surface. She grabbed a handheld scanner and held it over Lena’s head, anxiously waiting for the results to appear. When they finally did, Lillian’s heart sank. Lena’s skull was fractured and there was buildup in the brain that should have been relieved hours ago. She stilled her shaking hands and stealing herself began to work. The doctor grabbed a crash cart-just in case since she discovered Lena’s pulse was light but still there. 

Just as she was about to make the first cut, a resounding crash echoed about them and Lillian prayed it was someone coming to rescue her daughter from this living nightmare. She didn’t have much time to dwell on what was going on, however, due to there being more pressing matters at hand. Steeling herself, the elder Luthor gripped her scalpel tighter and took a deep breath, bringing it down to slice through Lena’s skin.

_____

“Kara, be careful in there,” Alex said through the coms.

“I will, Alex,” Kara replied as the Luthor mansion came into sight.

After Alex had called the team and explained what was going on, they were able to come up with a plan. Kara had been restless the entire time, knowing she had to save her wife and daughter before it was too late and the Luthors were definitely up to something more than simply making her life miserable. 

The team decided, after scanning the mansion for Kryptonite readings-which weren’t very fruitful due to the heavily fortified Luthor mansion- that Brainy and Nia would infiltrate the mansion first and do scans from inside the large building, then J’onn and Kara would take their positions in order to attempt to take Lex by surprise. 

When Kara made it to the mansion, she saw J’onn already there, she nodded at him and took a deep breath, waiting for Alex’s signal. Glowing green lasers began aiming at her almost immediately and Kara just barely missed the first one.

“Supergirl, now!” Alex yelled and Kara took off into the large space, wearing the anti-kryptonite suit Lena made her. The blonde superhero burst through one of the windows and saw Lex standing in the middle of the large foyer. 

“Lex,” She growled, her hatred for the man standing before her emanating off her in waves. 

“Supergirl,” Lex spat, matching Kara’s disdain. “I suppose you’re here for your little spawn since you never came after my dear little sister.” 

Kara fumed at the smirk on the Luthor’s face. He knew she hadn’t known, he had planned all of this after all and if Lex Luthor was notorious for anything, it was his ability to plan things to the tee. I doubt we ever caught him by surprise tonight, Kara thought to herself as she continued to stare the man down.

“Is that all you wanted from her!” Lex yelled, “A spawn to carry on your disgusting lineage? You really did a number on her, Kryptonian, you have no idea how many times I promised her the world, threatened her, tortured her, she wouldn’t give you up. I even tried using your appearance to get her to turn against you, but nothing worked, until I took your little abomination and that was just the push my little sister needed to get what I wanted.”

Kara screamed and rushed towards and grabbed him by the neck, pushing him against the wall. 

“How dare you take them!” 

Lex just smirked, his signature smirk as Brainy and Nia walked into the room.

“Kara,” Nia said softly, “Kara Maisie’s not here.”

“What?” Kara growled, her grip tightening on Lex’s neck, “Where is she?”

Lex chuckled, albeit a little strained, “you let me go and I’ll tell you.”

“Go to hell,” Kara spat, “How about, you tell me and I won’t kill you.”

“You won’t kill me, Kryptonian, because if I die, you will never see your daughter again.” 

Kara loosened her hold on Lex’s neck and slammed his head against the wall hard enough to induce unconsciousness.

“Get him out of my sight,” Kara said angrily and watched as J’onn silently lifted him up and flew out of the house. She turned to Brainy, who gave her a sad look.

“The basement.” 

Kara sped down to the basement and used her superhearing to locate the lab that was all the way in the back of the underground floor. 

She paused in the doorway as she witnessed Lillian dutifully working away on her wife’s beaten body. Kara hardly recognized her, the mask covering her face, eyes ringed with purple, almost black bruises, bandages covering almost every inch of her pale skin, the ghostly pallor that was usually only present when one was on death’s door. 

“What are you doing to her?” Kara finally said, storming towards Lillian.

“Trying to save her life,” Lillian snapped, never looking up from what she was doing. 

“What?” Kara asked dumbly, her mind reeling from everything going on.

“Let me finish up and I will explain,” Lillian sighed, “I can’t risk being distracted right now, but you can pull up a chair and sit next to her,” She paused, “She really missed you.”

Kara stood there and stared at the woman before finally, slowly pulling up a chair next to her wife. The blonde picked up her wife’s limp hand and held it as tightly as she could without hurting her, running her gloved thumb over bruised knuckles.

When Lillian was finished, she pulled up a chair beside Kara and sat down with an exhausted sigh, “He said he wouldn’t hurt her.” She murmured. 

Kara scoffed, “And you believed him?” 

“No, that’s why I agreed to work with him,” Lillian sighed once more, “It took me far too long, but I finally see him for the monster that he is. I didn’t want to accept that I had failed, Luthors don’t fail.” 

“You failed Lena.”

“I know, and I will regret that for the rest of my life.” 

“Is there any way we can get her out of here? I don’t want this to be the place she wakes up and I have to tell her…” Kara trailed off.

“Tell her what?” Lillian asked carefully.

“That our daughter is missing,” Kara could barely breath and suddenly felt claustrophobic in the tight suit and disengaged the helmet. As soon as she did so, she gasped in pain and green veins appeared on her face.

Lillian looked toward the culprit and quickly locked the Kryptonite rock in a case that was next to the desk. 

“Thank you,” Kara whispered.

“It’s the least I can do after everything I’ve done,” Lillian replied, slowly sitting back down. “Lex had a way of… convincing people he was right even when he was terribly wrong and I thought, maybe if he was right I hadn’t failed him and I hadn’t failed this planet.” She took in a deep breath, “but I did. And because of it, thousands of people were hurt, including my own daughter.” 

“Why now?” Kara whispered.

Lillian chuckled, though it was void of any humor, “you know, Lena asked me the same question. I suppose- I suppose prison has a way of putting things into perspective. I pushed away my only child that actually wished to have a real relationship with me, first out of jealously and then because I deluded myself into thinking Lex wasn’t a homicidal maniac and everyone else was simply deluded themselves. I became the one thing I never wanted to be, my mother, and I suppose I continued that tradition with Lena, luckily she’s stronger than I ever was and she became better. I also found out about Maisie during my time behind bars and realized that I would never get to know her because I chose Lex, because I made the wrong choice. Nothing will ever make up for what I have done to her, but when Lex told me what he was going to do, I promised myself I would do everything I could to protect her.” 

Kara was speechless, she never expected to have this conversation with her mother-in-law, ever. Her mouth opened and closed a few times before finally deciding on something to say, “thank you for saving her and protecting her when I couldn’t.”

“You shouldn’t have to thank me for protecting my own child.” Lillian looked up at Lena and gently placed a hand on her leg, “I should have done it a long time ago.”

The two sat in silence for a while listening to the steady beeping of the machines surrounding Lena until Lillian spoke up.

“We can set up the transport in the garage to get Lena to the DEO.”

Kara nodded and looked the older woman in the eyes, “Thank you.”

They both stood and Lillian placed a hand on Kara’s shoulder, “What he’s done to her, it’s going to leave scars and not just physically.”

Kara’s eyes glossed over as she nodded, sighing dejectedly, “What exactly did he do?”

“Kara…” Lillian murmured softly.

“Please, just tell me.” 

Lillian removed her hand and changed her face into a blank mask and began to explain everything to Kara, starting with Lex’s plans, to the funeral, to just today and by the end, tears were freely streaming down Kara’s face. 

“S-so he was using her to create a stronger form of Kryptonite?” Kara whispered, afraid that if she spoke any louder, sobs would rip through her chest. 

“Lex was growing frustrated by the anti-kryptonite suits that Lena created and so he wanted her to create a stronger Kryptonite that would make them useless. And who better than the creator of the suit?” Lillian said bitterly. 

Kara rubbed at her eyes as Lillian started out of the room, “Come, let’s get her out of this cursed mansion.” 

Kara followed silently and assisted Lillian in setting up the transport and moving Lena onto it. She went up to the main level to fetch Nia and Brainy, who were still waiting and assured a distraught Alex that she was fine, there was simply no service in the basement. 

When the transport made it to the DEO, doctors whisked Lena away and agents surrounded Lillian.

“Hey, hey, back off, she’s with me!” Kara yelled stepping in front of Lillian who had her hands raised.

“We’re supposed to apprehend her, Supergirl,” One of the agents said.

“Well I’m telling you not to,” The hero practically growled.

The agent reluctantly lowered their guns and Lillian gave her an inquisitive look.

“What?” Kara mumbled, rubbing her temples with her hand and moving toward Lena’s hospital room, Lillian on her heels.

“Nothing, it’s just, why didn’t you let them take me in?”

“Because you saved my wife, she wouldn’t- she wouldn’t be here without you and I believe what you said to me, that you see the error in your ways and wish to change. But let me make myself clear, if you ever try to hurt anyone ever again, I will personally see to it that you will never see the light of day again.” 

Lillian nodded, “of course, thank you, Supergirl.” 

Kara nodded in return and opened the door to Lena’s room.

“Is there somewhere I can wash up, I’m still covered in…”

Kara took in a sharp breath as she took in Lillian’s appearance and the sheer amount of blood she was covered in, Lena’s blood. 

“Uh, yeah, hey Vasquez!” Kara called down the hall where she saw the agent passing. 

“Yes, Supergirl?” The agent replied, eyeing Lillian warily.

“Mrs. Luthor needs to get cleaned up, see to it that she is given a change of clothes and that she is comfortable.” Kara stated, “and if anyone has grievances about her being here, they are welcome to come talk to me about it.”

“Of course.” The agent led Lillian away and Kara let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. Walking into Lena’s room, shutting the door behind her, she sat beside Lena’s beaten form and gripped her hand, feeling cold skin once more. Kara began to cry, loud and hard as all the grief and pain that had built up over the past three weeks spilled over. Lena was just barely clinging onto life, Maisie was gone, and she had no idea how she was supposed to get through this, how either of them were supposed to get through this. 

Eventually, she felt warms arms wrap around her and pull her into a hug and she cried into Alex’s shoulder until she had no tears left. Alex simply held her and whispered quiet reassurances even after her sobs turned into quiet whimpers. 

“What am I going to do, Alex?” Kara murmured into her sister’s neck.

“You’re going to lean on me and Kelly, Brainy, Nia, J’onn, Eliza, you’re whole family. You’re going to be there for Lena when she wakes up, not if, when because she’s really going to need you and we are going to find your little girl, I promise.” Alex said confidently, still keeping a tight hold on her sister.

“Okay,” Kara whispered.

“El Mayarah,” Alex stated, pulling back to look her sister in the eyes.

Kara looked back at her sister, eyes red and puffy, not quite believing everything her sister just said, but knowing she had to believe it in order to keep going, “El Mayarah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I plan on updating this one sooner than next month 😂

**Author's Note:**

> Still don’t understand how this stuff spews out of my brain randomly on a regular basis. I’ve been working on this for a couple of weeks, please leave comments I love hearing what you all think ☺️


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